Frankie Ward Talks About Saudi-Owned ESL FACEIT Group, Her Future in CS:GO
Frankie breaks her silence following accusations of hypocrisy.
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One of the first CS:GO talents to speak about the formation of ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), Frankie Ward, has expressed her thoughts about the situation in detail while also talking about her future. She also responds to accusations of hypocrisy and points out categorically how this is not the case.
Frankie is currently on a break from hosting esports tournaments and is not working for any tournament organizer. She has spoken in great detail via her blog titled 'A difficult decision'.
The 32-year-old who recently became a mother just two weeks ago clarified that she is currently not directly involved with IEM (Intel Extreme Masters - ESL's IP) and has no plans of working for them either.
However, Frankie will be seen creating some content for Predator (Acer's brand) around the upcoming IEM Katowice 2022. They are one of the sponsors for the event and Frankie states that she will have to do the needful due to her contractual obligations from last year.
Frankie talks about her future in CS:GO, shares her thoughts on the Saudi-owned ESL FACEIT Group
The news about ESL and FACEIT being bought by Savvy Gaming Group (SGG), to form ESL FACEIT Group, has taken the CS:GO community by storm. The reason why many are upset with this deal is that it has been financially backed by the Saudi government's Public Investment Fund (PIF). According to Amnesty International, the Saudi Arabian government's has a poor human rights record making it a moral concern for many in the community.
Frankie Ward has become one of the first CS:GO talents to speak about it publicly and give her direct stance on the situation. Providing an anecdotal narrative of how and when she found out about the deal, Frankie said that she found out about Savvy Gaming Group’s acquisition of ESL after first reports about the deal emerged.
She was then invited to a meeting with ESL where they detailed the merger and sale of ESL.
MTG sold ESL and DreamHack. Of course, I don’t know about how the business or the who/what/wheres and ESL’s involvement, but it’s pretty obvious that the majority of people who work directly or freelance for these companies were none the wiser until the last moment. And yes, that includes onscreen talent. We found out when the rest of the internet did – the meetings with ESL happened later."Frankie Ward - Personal Statement
Talking specifically about the deal, Frankie explained how this was different from the BLAST-NEOM partnership. She pointed out that the latter was a sponsorship, while ESL and FACEIT have been bought and merged to form the ESL FACEIT Group.
There are no takebacks here. I can’t campaign for the deal to go. I’m hoping the SGG will be more of a silent partner, looking to make their money and pocket it, rather than use their shiny new platform for propaganda, but only time will tell."Frankie Ward - Personal Statement
As for her future, Frankie expressed that all she can do is choose whether to walk away from her biggest clients, ESL and FACEIT, as most of the work she does in and out of CS:GO is produced by them.
At the moment, she does not have any plans of working with ESL and as for her upcoming work during IEM Katowice 2022, she will be doing just a few social media posts for Predator as they sponsor IEM.
She also responded to accusations of hypocrisy by saying that all those that are quick to call her out as a hypocrite forget that she had taken a stand against NEOM publicly, while also walking away from the event after hearing about the sponsor.
Discussions around the development continue to take place as members of the community carry on voicing their opinions. Slowly prominent members and personalities are also coming forward with their individual stance surrounding the situation, while the ESL FACEIT Group has already planned various initiatives for CS:GO.
